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| Agriculture |
Introduction/Agricultural Biodiversity/ SDNP-Newsletter/SDNP-ENVIS Partners
Agriculture is a way of life, a tradition, which, for centuries, has shaped the thought, the outlook, the culture and the economic life of the people of India. Agriculture, therefore, is and will continue to be central to all strategies for planned socio-economic development of the country. Rapid growth of agriculture is essential not only to achieve self-reliance at national level but also for household food security and to bring about equity in distribution of income and wealth resulting in rapid reduction in poverty levels.
Indian agriculture has, since Independence, made rapid strides. In taking the annual foodgrains production from 51 million tonnes of the early fifties to 206 million tonnes at the turn of the century, it has contributed significantly in achieving self sufficiency in food and in avoiding food shortages in our country. The pattern of growth of agriculture has, however, brought in its wake, uneven development, across regions and crops as also across different sections of farming community and is characterized by low levels of productivity and degradation of natural resources in some areas. Capital inadequacy, lack of infrastructural support and demand side constraints such as controls on movement, storage and sale of agricultural products, etc., have continued to affect the economic viability of agriculture sector. Consequently, the growth of agriculture has also tended to slacken during the nineties.